In keeping with tradition, WASSER BERLIN will again be held at the same time and venue as GAS BERLIN. Following an invitation from ÖVGW, Cornelia Wolff v. d. Sahl, project manager of WASSER BERLIN, and Arnd Böhme, CEO of the WASSER BERLIN Association, visited Vienna at the end of January.

aqua press Int. took the opportunity and asked for an exclusive interview.

API: Can you as conference organiser feel the widely cited upswing in European economy?

Wolff v. d. Sahl: Indeed! We have meanwhile received a lot more registrations than for WASSER BERLIN 2003. What has certainly helped this year was our special earlybird discount which we offered to prospective visitors, and with which we tried to tackle the frequently observed phenomenon of last-minute registrations. Thanks to this new registration concept, we were able to conclude our hall arrangements as early as late January. The extremely positive feedback has also encouraged us to expand the exhibition area for our 2006 event by another hall, thus adding 3,000 m2 of exhibition space.

API: Can you identify trends with respect to the exhibitors’ origin?

Wolff v. d. Sahl: Undoubtedly the Germans still account for the largest group of exhibitors. But we are again in a leading position as far as participants from CEE countries are concerned. What is especially remarkable is the strong and multifarious presence of Turkey, which among other things may have been triggered by the current debate about the country’s potential EU membership. Among our guests in 2006 will also be the US Wastewater Association and the South Korean Water Association.

API: What special strategies does the trade fair management pursue to keep the “radiant energy” of WASSER BERLIN towards the east alive? After all, many of the current environmental events in Europe pride themselves on being the “gateway to the east”!

Wolff v. d. Sahl: It is true that our double-exhibition has so far drawn a massive audience from CEE countries! The 2003 event in fact attracted so many visitors that in the following year we decided to organise an additional event – Wasser & Gas Berlin Spezial – especially tailored to the target group of new EU acceding states. While this has helped us establish vital new contacts, we also pursue our goal of building cooperation with trade exhibition organisers in certain CEE key countries and expanding these contacts. Cases in point are the recently concluded partnership with AQUA UKRAINE or Moskow- based ECWATEC. We also have our feelers out for Kazakstan and, of course, for the new EU member countries, the Baltic States.

API: Another factor which seems to be increasingly important for the success of large events is to find the right niche. Would you consider the Berlin concept of closely linking water and gas themes to be still advantageous in the light of this development?

Arnd Böhme: More than ever! It perfectly ties in with the current trend towards “multi-utilities”. What also distinguishes us from other events, such as IFAT in Munich, is our additional focus on all aspects of network construction and rehabilitation. WASSER (and GAS) BERLIN is well on its way to becoming the ultimate expert event on network construction and operation in Europe! This is further substantiated by the fact that our traditional “Pipeline Construction Symposium” is gradually losing its exclusive focus on pipeline construction and increasingly also involves underground cable construction. I am particularly pleased that we have been able to “move” the office of the German Society for Trenchless Technologies (GSTT) from Hamburg to Berlin. GSTT has also become a member of the WASSER BERLIN Association, which we hope will have many fruitful synergies in its wake. This year, for instance, we will dedicate the “construction site day” of the symposium to the latest trends in “trenchless technologies”. Another vital aspect in which we differ from IFAT is our geographical location, which makes the products and services presented in Berlin much more keyed to countries in Northeast Europe, such as the Baltic States, Russia and Poland.

API: What “highlights” are awaiting the visitors this year?

Wolff v. d. Sahl: As far as the trade exhibition is concerned, I would like to draw particular attention to the stand of the water utilities of St. Petersburg in Hall 1. This city was already a central topic at WASerLEBEN 2003. In Hall 2, the stands of the German associations and the major water suppliers will be the magnets. Hall 3 mainly houses the pump and well construction companies as well as the industry forum, where companies will deliver their product-related presentations, such as on industrial water conditioning. A special newsletter featuring industry novelties will be ready just in time for the opening of WASSER BERLIN. As regards the social programme for exhibitors, I would like to refer in particular to the traditional Gala Dinner of WASSER BERLIN, which this year will be co-organised by the German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water (DVGW). We are also planning a wide range of activities in connection with the 150th Anniversary of Berliner Wasserbetriebe. In Hall 1, WASerLEBEN will seek to attract and entertain schools as well as families with the main themes “Water Culture at Villa Hadriana near Tivoli” and “Water Supply in the Middle Ages”.

API: The central element of this event is undoubtedly the Water Conference, which will be organised by the WASSER BERLIN Association in collaboration with partner companies. What are the key themes in 2006?

Arnd Böhme: Two conference days will be dedicated to the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). How does the implementation of the directive affect water suppliers? Will they remain competitive in the long term? If necessary investments result in water price mark-ups, will this trigger another heated public debate on service fees? These and many other hot topics related to the WFD will be addressed by distinguished speakers from various European countries. The BGW again joins the event with a stream on “Water and Competition”. The topics discussed will comprise modernisation strategies but also questions that typically arise in the course of a water utility privatisation procedure. For the first time, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety organises a stream on “Marine Strategies”; this addresses another aspect of water management that deals with the national and European strategies for the protection of the marine environment. Another topical theme is covered by the stream “Flood Protection”, where the large German cities most seriously affected by flooding – Cologne and Dresden – will present their strategies for dealing with floods. Last but not least, WASSER BERLIN will for the first time feature an “International Symposium on Water Management” hosted by the DWA. It will comprise three technical conferences: “Free Passage for Aquatic Fauna in Rivers and Other Water Bodies”, “Water Resources Management in Agriculture” and “Climate Change and Consequences for Water Resources Management”.

API: Arnd Böhme finally concludes his outlook on the WASSER BERLIN programme with a positive note: Despite the host of relevant topics, the event organisers seem to have successfully managed to avoid an overlap of themes. Visitors are therefore free to draw up their own little “appointment book” with conference themes that fully match their individual interests.
(Source: aqua press Int. 1/2006, Mag. Christof Hahn)